Recipe of the month: Quesadillas with homemade Salsa and Guacamole

I haven't been cooking much lately (that statement sounds so odd to me). I may have lost a bit of my cooking mojo you guys. But I know that is just a passing phase so I'm not too flustered by it. I still do find the interest to bake occasionally but the cooking bug has crawled aside for the time being. I had plenty of draft posts ready that I had the good sense of creating during my cooking highs so that has really been my saving grace 😁 I think the last blogworthy dish that I cooked was the Dabeli which was way back in April (I posted it on the blog only much later). After that....zero....zilch....nada!

Anyway, ever since my husband (I call him 'A' remember?) contributed his Margherita Pizza as a guest post to my blog last year, I have been bugging him to feature another one of his recipes. There are lots of dishes that he exclusively churns out in our kitchen that I really REALLY like such as Quesadillas with Salsa and Guacamole, Jalapeño Poppers, Thai Green Curry, Mushroom and Pea Risotto, Penne in a Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, Papdi Chaat, Paneer Butter Masala, Egg Biryani and so on. He makes these signature dishes for me usually over the weekend - on a leisurely Friday or Saturday weekend. While he is hard at work chopping, dicing, sautéing and serving, I'll be propped on the sofa watching something on tv (and not helping one bit). So yeah, I do look forward to those weekends 😆

I've already chronicled our love for Mexican food in the past so I'm not going to go there today. I like salsa but it is the guacamole that really does it for me. I can polish off a large bowl of guacamole all by myself....a bagful of tortilla chips and I am good to go. We have chips and dip at home quite frequently but occasionally hubby also makes Quesadillas to go along with it. I acquired the taste for Quesadillas from Blooie's Roadhouse, an American pub/restaurant on Upper Bukit Timah Road that was walking distance away from our previous rented condo. We used to go there ALL the time and we would always order the Quesadillas and Jalapeno Poppers without fail. When it comes to Quesadillas, I like them simple. I know of people stuffing them with refried beans, mushrooms, avocado, bell peppers, olives, tomatoes, ground spices, herbs and other stuff but I just like them to have grated cheese and nothing else. That's how it is done in Blooie's and that is how it is made in my home as well.

So, here is my husband's recipe for Quesadillas with homemade Salsa and Guacamole. I am responsible for the photos in this post this time round and I feel they didn't do any justice to his dish (boo!). But I can vouch for the flavour so you will have to believe me that it is good.

'A' will be taking over now.....bye y'all.

Cheers,

Megha

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Hello again readers. I am back on this space after a gap of around 1 year. As I've mentioned before, cooking is something I enjoy....writing not so much. That may be the reason why even though this photographs and recipe for this dish were ready months ago but it is being published much later. I had a few dishes in mind that I was considering to feature as part of my next guest post and among them, Quesadillas with Salsa and Guacamole was one of them. This is a dish that I make frequently at home and it something that both me and my wife enjoy immensely.

My introduction to Mexican food began way back in India but it was only truly during my stint in the US when I truly began to get further acquainted with this remarkable cuisine. On a brief visit to Mexico in 2008, I was able to appreciate the freshness of the ingredients, bold flavors and colorful presentation of several popular Mexican dishes. In particular, authentically made Salsa and Guacamole were two dishes that left me with a yearning to recreate them at home.

Making Salsa and Guacamole at home is pretty easy. It is just a matter of gathering the ingredients and chucking them into a bowl. Quesadillas don't even take that much time or effort especially if you are using store-bought tortillas (a 10-year old could do it). Sounds good doesn't it? Rest assured that this entire dish can come together in under an hour. Serve it to your family or while entertaining friends at dinner parties and it is sure to be a big hit.

So please go ahead and check out the recipe....

Quesadillas with homemade Salsa and Guacamole

Total time: 45 min to under an hour
Preparation time: ~30 min; Cooking time: ~15 min
Serves: 2-3

Recipe category: Appetizer/Mexican
Recipe level: Easy
Recipe Source: Various websites and blogs

Salsa

Ingredients:

250gm ripe roma tomatoes, 1 tomato roasted on an open flame

1-2 jalapeños (adjust according to taste), 1 jalapeño roasted on an open flame

1 small red onion

1 small bunch cilantro, use both the leaves and tender stems

a few drops of lemon juice

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp ground cumin, Optional

Salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor, blitz the cilantro, roasted jalapeño, additional jalapeño (if using) and onion. Alternatively, you can chop all the ingredients by hand. 

2. Set aside in a bowl. Now coarsely blitz the roasted tomato (let it still be a bit chunky) and mix into the salsa. Do the same with the rest of the roma tomatoes. I did it in batches of two so that the tomatoes wouldn't get too mushy. Mix the chopped tomatoes into the salsa. 

3. Add sugar, salt to taste, ground cumin and lemon juice. Check the seasonings and adjust accordingly. 4. Letting the salsa sit for a while makes it taste even better as all the flavours marry together.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2-3 ripe avocados, halved, de-seeded and scooped

1 tsp mayonnaise

1 tsp sour cream

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2-3 tbsp prepared salsa (see above for recipe)

a squeeze of lemon juice

a sprinkling of freshly crushed black pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Roughly mash the avocado pulp with a fork. 

2. Sprinkle salt to taste and the lemon juice and give it a good mix. 

3. Add the mayonnaise and sour cream and mix again. 

4. Finally add the minced garlic, prepared salsa, freshly crushed black pepper and mix well. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. 

5. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Quesadillas

Ingredients:

8 flour tortillas (plain or wholemeal)

2 cups grated cheese (I used a mixture of mozzarella, parmesan and sharp cheddar)

Olive oil for frying the quesadillas

Directions:

1. Place one tortilla on a flat surface. 

2. Sprinkle the cheese over the surface uniformly (try not to get too close to the edges). 

3. Place another tortilla over the top. 

4. Heat a pan and lightly grease with a few drops of olive oil. Now place the quesadilla gently on the pan and fry on medium heat. It takes about a minute to a minute and a half to get each side crispy and golden–and your cheese will be perfectly melted, too. 

5. Cut into 4 triangles

Serve immediately alongside the salsa, guacamole and sour cream

Notes:

• If you notice that your salsa has too much of the tomato juice in it and isn't as thick and chunky as you had hoped for, drain some of that water 
• Always cook your quesadillas fresh and serve when they're hot, crunchy, and gooey. Otherwise, they'll get soggy and the cheese will go kind of rubbery. That's not what you want, trust me!
• If you have leftover salsa and guacamole, you can enjoy them the next day with some tortilla chips or nachos. 

Cheers,

A